


Under the Fading Sky

by girlnamedlance



Category: Kamen Rider W (Double)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Prom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-16
Updated: 2014-10-16
Packaged: 2018-02-21 09:27:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2463305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlnamedlance/pseuds/girlnamedlance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shotaro is taking his partner to prom. Assuming he can survive the Sonozakis and his own nerves first. (High School Prom AU. Also screw the timeline.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under the Fading Sky

The Sonozaki mansion looked huge from the street, but when you’re actually parked at the gate on a motorcycle it’s a truly imposing place indeed. He swallowed hard and hit the buzzer. “E-excuse me, it’s Shotaro. I’m here for Phi-- I mean, Raito.” Oh god why had he agreed to pick him up at the house? The gates would have been fine.

Without a word, the buzzer sounded and the gate began to slide sideways. Once there was enough space, he cruised up the long driveway toward the main house. He took his time getting off the bike and taking off his helmet. He just prayed that Philip was ready. 

When Philip had asked him to prom, he first wasn’t sure if he’d heard him right. “Well you’re supposed to have a partner, right?” he’d asked. That wasn’t quite how it worked, but it was good enough, he supposed. And some small part of his heart fluttered when he’d even asked in the first place. That was an unexpected feeling. 

His heart was pounding again now, but not only because of what was coming that night. He was at the Sonozaki mansion, the center of the Dopant problem he and Sokichi Narumi were working to solve. And he was in love with one of them. If that’s what this was. Fortunately, Sokichi hadn't asked too many questions when Shotaro had told him he needed the night off for prom. He’d just given him an even look and told him to keep an eye on his phone if there was an emergency.

Finally, he strode across the walkway to the front door. He raised a hand to knock when someone pulled the door open. “This way,” said the door man. He stood aside and gestured for him to go to his left.

“Th-thanks.” Oh jeez now he was inside. This was a terrible idea. He was so doomed.

He followed him toward a side parlor. “Mr. Sonozaki, Raito’s friend has arrived,” he said at the entrance of the room. Friend. Sure. 

“Ah, come in Shotaro!” there was a light chuckle in the man’s voice. In the room also sat Philip’s oldest sister, Saeko. She gave him one look, packed up the paperwork she had spread across the table and left. 

Shotaro stepped in, silently willing Philip to appear behind him any second. The quicker he was in and out of here the better.

Ryubee sat there smiling genially, with a chunky grey cat dozing in the chair beside him. On the table in front of him was an antique rifle which he was in the middle of cleaning. Yeah, that wasn’t unnerving at all. “I must say, I’m rather surprised the two of you couldn’t come up with dates of your own,” he said.

Shotaro swallowed and adjusted his tie. “Oh, uh,” he coughed to clear his throat. Maybe he doesn’t know who you’re working for. Calm down. “Yeah, I guess the other guys beat us to the punch,” he answered. Hurry the hell up Philip.

He chuckled a little bit. “I’m sure he was much too busy with his research to even consider it.” Ryubee replied. He started reassembling the weapon. 

Shotaro tried to smile but he was still really unnerved by this. “Y-yeah... “ he tugged a bit where his shirt cuffs peeked out of his jacket sleeves. He wasn’t wholly unused to shirts, ties, and jackets, but suddenly he felt like something was squirming around under them.

The cat came over to sniff at his shoes. That member of the family seemed normal enough. Speaking of other members of the Sonozaki family… He couldn’t not ask. “Is Wakana around?”

Ryubee let out a knowing chuckle, not looking up from where his hands were busy with the rifle. “Ah, I thought you might like to see her. She is helping Raito get ready. I’m sure she will be down momentarily.” 

A meow from the cat drew his attention downward. He crouched and offered a finger for him to smell. He let out an annoyed sounding growl and went to leave. So now Shotaro was well and truly alone.

“Tell me, Shotaro,” Ryubee continued. “What sort of relationship do you have with my son?”

What the hell kind of question was that? He looked kind of stunned as he stood up again. He hid his shaking hands in his pants pockets. “‘What sort of relationship?’” he repeated. He wasn’t sure how to answer this, especially when he wasn’t sure himself. But Ryubee’s attention was now fully on him. “We’re good friends.” Those words didn’t seem to suffice, but that was what he could admit to without further consideration. “And he’s my partner in the Detective’s Club at school.”

“Your partner?” a new voice repeated. It was a harsh-sounding woman’s voice, slightly muffled. Shotaro turned his head to see a woman in a long black dress, and wavy dark hair peeking out of the bottom of a scarf that covered most of her face. Except for her eyes. Scar tissue was obvious around the cold, piercing eyes. 

“Yeah,” he answered. Somehow looking her in the eye was easier than Ryubee. “He really enjoys it.”

“So you’re the one holding him back,” she replied. Her hands curled into fists.

Shotaro hadn’t the chance to consider the impact of his words before they tumbled out of his mouth. “Phi--Raito is completely unstoppable. No one is capable of holding him back.”

The woman a step toward him. “How dare you--”

But she was cut off by a laugh from Ryubee that actually sounded genuinely mirthful. “What a fantastic answer, Shotaro!” He looked over his visitor’s shoulder toward the woman behind him. “Leave us.”

She didn’t miss a beat. Her shoes clacked off down the tiled floor. Shotaro wondered how he’d missed her coming, but he had probably been too distracted by Ryubee. 

“Please pardon my wife. She worries a lot about her only son,” Ryubee continued, his eyes back on the task he was set to complete. In and a quarter turn, the barrel was reattached. All that remained was a few screws and the shoulder stock. 

“N-no, it’s not a big deal.” He didn’t really feel he had to apologize for what he’d said, though. 

Ryubee looked amused still, and was quiet as he finished his work. He drew back the bolt and gave it a test dry fire. That small click made Shotaro jump a bit. 

That sound hung in the air for a moment. “Shotaro!” came Philip’s voice. It was like the heavens opened. He turned and headed back into the main hall again. Philip was jogging down the stairs. 

He looked like only the barest suggestion of formal, in simple black and white. But he’d chosen a shirt at least one size too big on him, with a black ribbon tied in a bow around his neck. His top button of his shirt was open, as well. Instead of a jacket, he wore a long vest that would be double-breasted if he’d actually bothered to button it. The pants were somewhat more normal, but he was still wearing his same red boots. But Shotaro wouldn't have him any other way. Philip in a more normal tux would just be wrong.

“What are you wearing, Shotaro?” he tilted his head and circled around his date to look at him from behind.

Shotaro’s ears got red and he turned so he couldn't so openly stare at his ass. “I could ask you the same thing! That’s not even a necktie!” The answer was coattails. A man only got a handful of opportunities to wear them, and Shotaro was not going to miss a single one. And they looked really cool flapping behind him on the bike.

“What does it matter what he’s wearing!” Wakana asked sternly from the top of the stairs. “Guys’ clothes are so boring, I thought he should look a little different.”

Shotaro’s face lit up. He was prepared for this. He reached into his inside jacket pocket “Ah, Princess Wakana! I’m glad to see you! Could I get your--” But she just sucked her cheek and disappeared down the hall. “...So cold…” 

Philip frowned at the space Wakana had left. But he reached up to put a hand on Shotaro’s shoulder. “Let’s go, Shotaro.” 

Mercifully, Shotaro had no further run-ins with any Sonozakis. Other than the one he was taking away for the night. Once out of the house, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Haaaaaah~” he bent over with his hands on his knees. “Your dad is terrifying.”

Philip smiled down at his partner. He patted him on the back. “I’m sorry I left you waiting so long.”

Shotaro looked up at him with a smile before he straightened up again. The sun was only starting to set, and the orange cast to the light made him positively glow. He could feel his face getting warm again and he turned toward the bike. He opened the storage compartment under the seat of his bike and pulled out the spare helmet for Philip. “I hope Wakana didn’t put hours into your hair.” It looked much the same as it usually did. The clips had rhinestones on them, though.

Philip looked confused. “What about a hairstyle could take such a long period of time?” He raised his fingers to his lip. 

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Shotaro answered as he pulled his helmet on. 

The ride was nice. The evening was just warm enough that the wind over their bodies on the motorcycle wasn’t too cool. And Philip pressed against his back felt different than usual. Was it his imagination or was he holding onto him tighter than was strictly necessary?

Once they got there and everything got into full swing, it was as though the situation to pick him up had been a long-forgotten memory. Shotaro didn’t have a care in the world. Until the first slow dance came along. 

He’d been chatting with some other people from class when the song came on. They’d hurried off to dance as soon as it started. But Shotaro didn’t know how. He’d never needed to learn. And it wasn’t like Sokichi could have taught him. He should know this by now.

It was only a few seconds for Philip to come back up to him. “Ah, I would have thought you’d found someone to dance with by now,” he told him. 

Shotaro shrugged. “Dancing isn't hard boiled at all,” he answered. 

“Ah, so you don’t know how.”

He spluttered. “Of course I do!”

“I've been researching different types of dancing for a week. I have memorized a few techniques that would be the most useful for an event of this kind. Don’t worry, I’ll lead.” And he took Shotaro’s hand and lead him toward the dance floor.

Philip was an excellent teacher. Shotaro was incredibly glad the low lighting made it hard to see the flush in his cheeks. Or so he hoped. As with most things, they fell into synchronicity fairly easily. But that also had a disadvantage in this instance. He no longer had an excuse to look at his feet. He was now quite close, face to face, with his partner. With the same partner he was starting to feel something he couldn't quite place. 

Philip looked like he didn’t notice how loud his partner’s heart was beating or how red in the face he was. Say something, already. “I thought it would be harder than that,” he finally spat out.

“It would appear that this particular kind of dance is very intimately related to the natural rhythm of the human body. It’s no surprise that it can be learned quickly.” He tilted his head a bit with a slight smirk on his face. “Are you all right, Shotaro?”

He froze briefly. His breath caught in his throat. “Y-yeah I’m fine.” I just really want to kiss you right now, his mind finished.

“I can feel your pulse is elevated. And your face is quite red. Perhaps you’re a bit too warm in that jacket.” He took hold of his lapels to help him out of the jacket.

Shotaro stopped dancing and stumbled back away from him. “N-no! I’m okay!” Oh god now people are staring. “I’m going to get something to drink.”

He nearly ran from the dance floor. What are you doing you moron? It’s just a kiss! A kiss that could completely ruin a good thing. An excellent thing, a perfect thing. A thing that was probably better than he deserved. Suddenly the few words he’d heard from Philip’s mother rang in his ears. And the cold way he’d been treated by his sisters. Maybe they knew something he didn’t. 

He cut off that train of thought by drinking an entire glass of water without coming up for air. No, he’d finally been taken up by Sokichi Narumi to be his apprentice. He had no reason to be this freaked out. He could do this.

He got quite good at making himself scarce when slow dances came along. Even with that pang of guilt when he saw Philip frown. But after an hour of hide and seek, Philip finally caught up to him. “What are you doing, Shotaro?” 

His stomach sank. Philip looked genuinely upset. “I-I’m... “ How could he explain this? Not just that he felt this way, but in the way Philip would need to understand.

Philip reached up and grabbed hold of his upper arm. There was a pleading in that gesture and in his eyes that he didn’t put voice to. Shotaro sighed, and his shoulders drooped. 

Their lips came together before Shotaro realized what he was doing. He let his fingers rest to one side of Philip’s neck. He could feel the muscles under his skin loosen up almost immediately. Philip wrapped his arms around Shotaro’s shoulders and returned the kiss. 

He pulled his head back, but didn’t try to escape Philip’s arms. He let his hands rest at his partner’s hips. “Ah, was that all?” Philip said. “You should have just said so.”

“I didn’t want to… change anything.” 

“How half-boiled,” he murmured and went in for another round. Shotaro wasn’t sure if they spent more of the rest of the night dancing and enjoying each other’s company or making out. 

The rest of the night flew by, and their classmates began to trickle out. They got on the bike without too many further words. Just satisfied smiles on their faces. Shotaro shrugged out of his jacket and passed it over to Philip for the ride home. He may have a point about the coattails, Philip decided.

Shotaro came up to a stop just out of security camera range of the Sonozaki mansion. He got off the bike and took his helmet off. Philip was curious, but didn’t ask. He was sure he was going to find out. “So, is this… boyfriends?” Shotaro asked.

Philip looked down and to one side, bringing his fingers to his lips. After a beat, he shook his head. “No, you’re my partner. My dear, and very precious partner.” 

Shotaro was turning red again. But he smiled. “Sure. Partners.” They kissed again, longer and deeper now that there were no prying eyes under the night sky. And they could stay like this all night as far as they were concerned.


End file.
